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Co-enzyme Q10
Co-enzyme Q10:
Co-enzyme Q10, also known as ubiquinone, is the co-factor of an enzyme. An oil-soluble, vitamin-like antioxidant, it is present throughout the human body, mostly in the mitochondria (the tiny powerhouses that create energy within our cells).
Co-enzyme Q10 is synthesized by the body. But in normal aging, the body may lose the ability to manufacture adequate amounts, and levels can decline by as much as 80 percent. Recent studies indicate that Co-enzyme Q10 levels begin to drop as early as age 20. Some researchers believe that these decreased levels in elderly patients may be the cause of some age-related discomforts.
Stress, poor eating habits, and infections may deplete the body of Co-enzyme Q10. Most adults in the developed world obtain less than 6 mg. of Co-enzyme Q10 per day from foods, mostly from meat.
Levels of Co-enzyme Q10 in common foods, per kilogram:
Chicken hearts – 120 mg.
Beef hearts -- 113 mg.
Sardines – 60 mg.
Beef steaks -- 40 mg.
Peanuts -- 27 mg.
Avocado – 10 mg.
Broccoli – 9 mg.
Cooking foods by frying can inactivate up to one-third of the available Co-enzyme Q10. Adequate levels of Vitamin B-6 are necessary to utilize Co-enzyme Q10 in the body. Co-enzyme Q10 plays an important role in protecting our body’s stores of Vitamin E.
The use of statins, popular cholesterol-reducing pharmaceutical drugs, or beta blockers, anti-hypertension drugs, also significantly reduces the levels of Co-enzyme Q10 in the body. Anyone who regularly takes statin drugs should consider supplementing with Co-enzyme Q10 to help reverse that effect.
Co-enzyme Q10 is the third most commonly sold dietary supplement in the United States, after multivitamins and Omega-3 fish oil capsules. This may be because of publicized research indicating its importance in heart health. The heart needs a constant supply of energy for the continuous actions of pumping and contracting; because the richest concentrations of Co-enzyme Q10 are in the heart, supplying the body with sufficient amounts may protect the heart and nourish the circulatory system. As many as 75 percent of heart patients are found to be deficient in Co-enzyme Q10, and lower levels have been linked to heart failure and atherosclerosis.
Co-enzyme Q10 offers a variety of additional health benefits:
Higher levels of Co-enzyme Q10 in human Low-Density Lipoproteins (LDLs) makes those blood fats less “sticky” and less likely to adhere to the walls of blood vessels.
Co-enzyme Q10 may help protect the liver from damage from toxicity.
Comprehensive clinical trials showed that hypertensive patients who took Co-enzyme Q10 supplements were able to reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
Taking Co-enzyme Q10 supplements has been shown to improve healing of gum tissues in periodontal disease. Applying Co-enzyme Q10 directly to the gums was proven to help reverse gingivitis.
Co-enzyme Q10 may protect against radiation damage. In a 2002 study, rats exposed to high doses of radiation suffered less physical damage if they had higher levels of Co-enzyme Q10.
Most cancer patients have low serum levels of Co-enzyme Q10; supplementation is being studied as a possible treatment for breast cancer and other cancers.
A study currently underway shows promise that supplementing with Co-enzyme Q10 (at a level of 1200 mg. per day) helps delay the progress of Parkinson’s disease.
Co-enzyme Q10 is thought to protect the thymus gland, a key organ in our immune systems.
Supplementing with Co-enzyme Q10 also may protect the liver.
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